VAC Motorsports Quaife LSD Review / Impressions

Hey everyone… I had the fortune of being able to jump on the VAC Motorsports Quaife Supersale this past month. Since I was from out of town, I opted for the “used-core” where VAC would build my new Quaife unit into a slightly-used core differential compatible with my vehicle. This way, I could just show up, have the entire pumpkins swapped, and receive a refund for the price of the core.

First of all, I’d like to give a shout-out to Mike@VAC for setting this great deal and answering dozens of phone calls / texts I’ve bothered him with over the past month! I’d also like to give a shout out to Dale, who installed the diff, and Klevis, who helped install the diff and has done other work on my car. These guys are the most professional, knowledgeable, and capable mechanics anyone could ask for and I couldn’t be happier with the experiences I’ve had at VAC. I really feel at home with these guys and trust them with my vehicle (which says a lot… I don’t let just anyone touch my car).

Impressions:
I spent the first 100 miles taking it easy, but oddly enough, I did feel a difference, even with regular freeway driving. Some of you may think this is Placebo Effect, but let me explain. In 2003, I purchased a G35 coupe. I remember the first time I took my father for a drive, we were on the freeway accelerating and he mentioned that the car had an “urge” to move forward. I felt the same way, but wasn’t sure why. Somehow, I’m reminded of that feeling driving my car now, which wasn’t the case prior to the diff.

After the first 100 miles, I started pushing the car more. I’m currently running Cobb S2+D. Prior to installing the LSD, flooring the car from a stand-still would give me wheel-spin all the way through 1st and most of 2nd gear and I felt that 1st gear was basically useless. It was very annoying because I felt like I had to really baby the car to avoid wheelspin – I hated it. NOW, with the Quaife, I get much much MUCH more traction. Because of the massive torque, I still spin in 1st gear, but since both tires are fighting for grip, there is a significant improvement in acceleration. 2nd gear only chirps at the shift, and then immediately gains traction and I’m off. Honestly, my S2+D feels like when I was on the S2+Agg maps… I can’t wait to feel what S2+Agg feels like with the diff (I downgraded to S2+D because I was having a lot of timing being pulled in multiple cylinders… need an intake valve cleaning [which I’ll be getting done at VAC next month, as it turns out ]).

So far I’ve only been talking about straight-line improvements, but I’ve also experienced improvements on corners… now, I haven’t taken the car VERY aggressively around corners, but there’s definitely a significant difference with the Quaife. I am getting quite a bit more traction going around freeway ramps and find that the car accelerates much more quickly out of corners. The only way I can describe it is that the “efficiency” has drastically improved… with the same amount of power and throttle, the car seems to accelerate much more quickly and confidently through trans-freeway ramps.

I’ve only had the Quaife for about 8 hours and I can already feel a huge difference. I don’t know that these differences could really be appreciated at stock power levels, but anyone running a tune and EVERYONE running with FBO power levels NEEDS an LSD, no question.

And as a side note, the Quaife differential is 100% silent... no clanking, humming, or rattling when cruising, idling, or changing gears.

All questions and comments are welcome. Thanks again to the VAC team… another outstanding product and installation.

I get mine installed at VAC in two weeks, can't wait, def sounds worth it!

Yeah, you'll definitely love it! Another huge factor is confidence to drive harder / faster. You know what to expect if you push too much, and the car really gives you it's all now. It just feels like an even tighter machine!